SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Plenty, the leading field-scale indoor farming company remaking the
global food system, announced today a $200 million Series B funding
round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, making it the largest agriculture
technology investment in history. In connection with the investment in
Plenty, the SoftBank Vision Fund’s Managing Director, Jeffrey
Housenbold, will join the Plenty Board of Directors.

Plenty is using proven plant science and patented technologies to build
a new kind of indoor farm that uses cutting-edge LED lighting,
micro-sensor technology, and big data processing to deliver
higher-quality produce for pricing as good or better than what consumers
pay today. The world has run out of economically viable, arable land for
many fresh fruit and vegetable crops. This investment will support
building out Plenty’s global, hyper-yield farm network and support its
mission of solving the increasingly critical need to make fresh produce
available and affordable for people everywhere.

“Fruits and vegetables grown conventionally spend days, weeks, and
thousands of miles on freeways and in storage, keeping us all from what
we crave and deserve — food as irresistible and nutritious as what we
used to eat out of our grandparents’ gardens," said Matt Barnard, CEO
and co-founder of Plenty. “The world is out of land in the places it’s
most economical to grow these crops. After a decade of development
driven by one of our founders, our technology is uniquely capable of
growing hyper-organic food with no pesticides nor GMOs while cutting
water consumption by 99 percent, making locally-grown produce possible
anywhere. We’re now ready to build out our farm network and serve
communities around the globe.”

"By combining technology with optimal agriculture methods, Plenty is
working to make ultra-fresh, nutrient-rich food accessible to everyone
in an always-local way that minimizes wastage from transport," said
Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. "We believe that
Plenty's team will remake the current food system to improve people's
quality of life."

Plenty’s farms, which the Company plans to build near the world’s major
population centers, will deliver industry-leading yields of the
freshest, best-tasting local produce that’s completely GMO- and
pesticide-free, all while transitioning agriculture to a predictable and
perpetual model. Plenty farms maintain a perfect growing environment,
use one percent of the water and a tiny fraction of the land of
conventional agriculture, while delivering produce to local grocery
shelves within hours of harvest.

The Series B funding round was led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, with
participation from affiliates of Louis M. Bacon, the founder of Moore
Capital Management, LP, and existing investors including Eric Schmidt’s
Innovation Endeavors, Bezos Expeditions, DCM, Data Collective and
Finistere.

About Plenty

Plenty is a new kind of farm for a new kind of world. We’re on a mission
to bring local produce to people and communities everywhere by growing
the freshest, best-tasting fruits and vegetables, while using one
percent of the water, less than one percent of the land, and none of the
pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMOs of conventional agriculture.
Our field-scale indoor farms combine the best in American agriculture
and crop science with machine learning, IoT, big data, climate creation
technology and the extraordinary flavor and nutritional profiles of
heirloom seed stock, enabling us to grow the food nature intended —
while minimizing our water and energy footprint. Based in San Francisco,
Plenty is currently building out and scaling its operations to serve
people around the world.